Hanna brings his animal world to Midland

Published 6:44 am, Friday, June 15, 2012

Photo: Nick King/Midland Daily News

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NICK KING | nking@mdn.netJack Hanna, right, signs a book for Sharon Rueterbusch, of Frankenmuth, as her grandson Karl, 8, looks on before Hanna’s presentation Thursday at the Midland Center for the Arts.

NICK KING | nking@mdn.netJack Hanna, right, signs a book for Sharon Rueterbusch, of Frankenmuth, as her grandson Karl, 8, looks on before Hanna’s presentation Thursday at the Midland Center for the Arts.

Photo: Nick King/Midland Daily News

Hanna brings his animal world to Midland

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America’s favorite zookeeper introduced his MATRIX:Midland audience to new friends, kept them laughing and taught them about the animals of the world Thursday night.

An energetic and eager to share Jack Hanna earned applause not only for himself, but his animal buddies as well. The show, which was performed before a full house at the Midland Center for the Arts, kicked off with a bit about Hanna’s history.

Raised on a farm in Tennessee, Hanna — now director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium — always knew he wanted to work with animals. He started out cleaning animal cages for a local veterinarian, and eventually followed his dreams to being a zookeeper.

“So kids, do what I did, follow your dreams,” he advised the youngsters in the crowd.

He showed segments of his popular television shows through the years, beginning with a trip to Rwanda to see mountain gorillas, the first of the rare animals mentioned during the two-hour show. It is believed there are only between 620 to 650 mountain gorillas left in the world, Hanna said, adding the animals were discovered in 1905.

The biggest oohs and aahs from the audience were elicited by some exotic beasties, such as a baby kangaroo — Hanna pointed out the claw on the animal’s back feet, which is used as a last means of defense; one of the last 200 purebred dingoes in the world — it can’t bark or howl; and a three banded armadillo. The armadillo, from South America, closes its shell so tightly that not even an ant can breach its defense, Hanna shared.

“This dates back to the dinosaur era,” he said, adding part of the reason they are endangered is because they are eaten like tacos in Brazil.

An animal wrangler wrestled a giant alligator snapping turtle onto the stage, and following that was a Siberian lynx, which has been pushed out of its natural habitat, away from its natural food sources and potential mates.

Hanna also introduced a two-toed sloth, which lives its life in the trees except for a once-weekly trip to the forest floor to go potty. It makes the trip, Hanna explained, so it doesn’t give away its location to predators which would hear the sloth’s droppings fall to the ground.

Sometimes Hanna’s easy-going nature left some wondering if he was being quite as serious about all the animals — especially the palm civet from Asia. The small, dark colored animal was perched atop its handler’s shoulders, snacking as the host shared some fun facts.

“Now how can he kill a cobra? — it’s an amazing thing to watch,” Hanna said, describing how the civet will circle the snake until the reptile gets dizzy, then attacks and bites off the snake’s head.

“Hey, that’s how he does it,” the zookeeper said with a shrug.

Hanna also told about the $500 per pound coffee made from the coffee beans that the creature likes to eat. The beans pass through its system, gaining a coating of what is believed to hold medicinal properties.

“So, enjoy your coffee,” Hanna said with a laugh.

Other animals presented included a black footed penguin, a serval cat, two owls, coyotes, a pink flamingo, a clouded leopard — “One of the top three rarest cats in the entire world,” with a coat that sells for $60,000 on the black market — and last but not least, a cheetah.

Hanna explained the precarious position the big cat has in life: While it can run in bursts of 70 mph, the cat catches its prey by stunning it. Most of the time, the prey escapes, which means the cat has to wait another two or three days before it is capable of again running at its top speed. Even if it catches and kills its prey, lions and tigers are alerted to the kill by buzzards circling overhead. The bullies take the cheetah’s kill away, sometimes also killing the cheetah.

Hanna ended the show with a signature blooper reel — the audience learned David Letterman can’t milk a goat and really isn’t interested in baby squirrels.